Beef Up Alpha??????
 

is there anyway to beef up an alpha outdrive im lookin to push 400hp in a 226 sport baja boat weighs 3800 with motor thanx chris

Realistically no. The best thing to do is learn to be easy on it. No full throttle hole shots and apply good throttling skills. Some people will get good life and others not.
Jim

Jim is being kind.. Alpha 1's are crap
Carder

I talked to a mercruiser tech at the Miami show and he said the alpha can handle 425 hp as long as you dont launch hard and watch the wave hopping

alpha
 

I already knew the drive was crap lol just lookin to keep this thing in one peice for a little while lol thanx a lot chris

I'm running a alpha 1.Ran it hard all summer,with 400hp,just broke it broke off at the oring groove on the top of the drive shaft.No problems with the gears.Changing to a alpha gen 2 they don't have that oring groove so i'm told.I'ts cheeper than going to a bravo.My buddy has a alpha gen 2 with a big block it's still going strong after 3 years. Just my 2 cents JOHN

Alpha's in light boats are actually pretty strong. I've ran 5 350-400hp SBC in front of stock Gen 1 Alpha's since 1992 without breaking one. I did blow up my original R drive in the late 80's with a 100shot. It took the teeth right off the forward gears.

Mercriser and GLM both make HD upper gear sets for the Alpha as the upper gears get the torque right off the crankshaft. Other than having the gears cryo treated that's about all to make the Alpha stronger. The case is just too small to stuff bigger gears and bearings into it.

I have two Alpha gen 1 and they have HD gears and late production driveshafts with no o ring grooves. I also reshimmed them myself to make sure they're perfect.

My AFR 355 made 426hp on the dyno with headers. In the boat with manifolds I bet it makes around 400. I've had no problems with the Alpha other than a water leak this summer.

Just learning how to drive to keep the Alpha alive goes a long way.

Run Merc Syn oil
Drive shower
No hard or WOT dead stop starts
Keep the prop in the water wave jumping
Apply throttle cleanly no just on plane stiff arms
Deaccelerate slowly after WOT runs

I'm building a stroker AFR 385ci over the winter and this motor will test the Alpha's durability. I have a very light pad hull at 2600lbs so this should only help keep it alive.

all late alpha drive shafts replacments no longer have the o ring groove.

Just my 2 cents but Alpha drives get a bad rap. Light boats and 400 to 425 HP should not be a problem. I have a 1986 Alpha GEN 1 with that amount of HP in front of it and it's never been rebuilt ! It's been resealed once and that's it.
Dave

You will be fine with the Alpha. Again just watch coming out of the water with it and no hole shots. The Alpha on my boat is a time bomb, but it has 800+ hours on it. The fluid is changed every 20-30 hours. It had spent most of its life behind a 260 hp, than a 406, 383, and now a 5.7 Vortec setup.

If anything I would have a HD gear set put in it if I was you!